Matt Stuff

Sunday, January 19, 2003

Hedwig As Porno Star...

So, John Cameron Mitchell, who co-created, directed and played the title character in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" is now creating a new project which will be produced by the folks who brought us "The Myth of Fingerprints" He wants to make a porn film with plot and great performances beyond just the carnal. He hopes to secure some respected actors, but seems to understand that he might need to go with an unknown cast. I just read one of several interviews where he says he wants to capture the "pansexual" Manhattan in which he resides. He got the idea at a "casual orgy" he attended. ? He and the producers have put up a website instructing actors how they can audition. They have also secured a starting budget of one million.

I don't think that porn and fine art merge well. Remember Sir John Gielgud, Malcom McDowell and Helen Mirren in "Caligula"? I mean, if one wants to watch a porno ---- does one really care about plot development? I also think that graphic sex in films usually takes the viewer out of the story. The viewer starts thinking more about the fact that he/she is viewing the nude body of the actor vs. the nude body of the character the actor is playing. ---- and the film is about the character --- not the actor.

I don't know. I suppose it will be interesting to see what he creates in the way of a film, but I am dissapointed guess to see such a talented artist go the way of Bruce LaBruce. Pushing boundaries for the impact of a film is one thing, but it seems to be a whole other matter to just drop all boundaries. I do not think this is a "brave" or "noble" direction for filmmaking ---- seems to me it is a shorcut to shock value and an aparent lack of creative ideas. If a film has a strong plot, good production values and a talented cast, does it really need insertion sex to make it interesting? I hope not.

One of the articles about this project can be found at nerve.com or http://www.nerve.com/screeningroom/film/mitchell/